Coyote and Dragonfly
by LencestuousSlurry
Summary: When Hanzo and his brother are sent to Santa Fe , they were supposed to be safe. As magical monsters start appearing out of nowhere, they're anything but! Hanzo is offered the chance to protect his brother and his new home: between high school and fighting supervillains with his scruffy vigilante partner, a dumb crush is the last thing he needs!
1. Primordial Rage

**another sort of test run for something before i post to ao3. i'll have costume designs and maybe a sneak peek at a few planned akumas posted to my tumblr, which you can find at the end!**

* * *

Hanzo's nose was nearly flush with the dusty train window, body pressed uncomfortably close to the car's peeling wallpaper as his brother snoozed on his shoulder. Genji's body bridged their first-class seats and Hanzo propped his chin up on his wrist, eyes trained to the red rock outside the window that swallowed him with the rattle and shake of each passing mile, feeding on his own tiredness as it had his brother's. The landscape may as well have been Martian, as alien as it was - even the sky was orange, though he supposed that was more due to the late hour than the desert. Every little pink flower he spied sprouting from a jade cactus was a pang in his stomach that ached to return home against his father's wishes, but he was trapped on an old-fashioned train - still running on tracks, he couldn't believe it when they had boarded - headed into the heart of the barren desert. What his father saw in this place, this country even, was a mystery to him, but he would sooner go to hell than disobey the man that had raised him and earned his respect for his fearless leadership of the clan. Never before had he seen such an terror in the old man's eyes than when he herded his two sons into the back of an unmarked black car, windows tinted and headlights cut in the dark of midnight; the vision of the frantic goodbye still clung to Hanzo's mind, tainting his fond memories of the timid summer breezes in the courtyard of his childhood home as he tried desperately to recall them for comfort.

Bumping and lurching along its track, the train was blissfully unaware of his conflicts. Clouds of dust in the hues of a sunset danced around the great beast's wheels and puffed up around Hanzo's little looking glass to the outside world beyond the buzz of the air conditioning and his brother's sour breath on his cheek. He made a mental note to tell Genji to brush his teeth when they arrived at their temporary apartment, he had neglected to do so during their travels. Unlike his brother, seemingly, he was fed up with sleeping during the day, drawing shut the heavy curtains of cheap motel rooms and moonless nights of driving across the American continent until the omnic their father had left as their driver and guardian had finally produced train tickets to their final destination - Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Before they had left, his father had explained the choice, albeit briefly. Out of all of his dirty business connections halfway across the world, none was as loyal to the family as the Deadlock Gang that roamed the red desert of the Southwest. They were a pack of wild dogs, faithful to the last breath, and the leader of the Shimada had earned their trust long ago. He had not contacted them yet - for lack of knowledge of their swift departure, he claimed, but the gang knew his face, knew of Hanzo and Genji. They would be safe in America until order was restored to their home. Fraternizing with such a gang was not exactly Hanzo's idea of a good time, but he would do anything to put his father's mind at peace.

* * *

The sky had again taken to an inky color when the train finally scuttled into the station. Genji woke with a loud yawn and a lanky stretch of his bare arms, a smack of his dry lips and Hanzo rolled his eyes.

"Father's absence is no excuse to fall behind on your hygiene, brother," he scolded in Japanese as he stood from his seat with a much more reserved pop of his joints. Genji snickered and stood himself, blowing a puff of hot air at Hanzo's nose. The older boy faux-gagged and shoved Genji towards the train doors as he gathered their small amount of luggage. Their guardian was in storage a few cars back, which seemed a little unfair, but it had insisted.

The omnic rented a car for the short drive into town, and they traveled mostly in silence. Genji was awake, at least, but he kept his attention turned to the window, as did Hanzo. As much as he loved the classic look of his hometown, he had to admit the attraction of the architecture, ancient-looking stone cast in the soft yellow glow of street lamps made for a pleasant change of the scenery from the desert train ride - no two structures looked entirely the same, in fact, until they hit the city center.

As they entered the apartment nestled in one of the moderate high-rises, Hanzo realized with a drop in his stomach how well-prepared his father had been for an emergency such as this. It was fully furnished: a few thin carpets covered the pale wood of the floor and a sofa sat opposite a television in the parlor, a ring of keys to a car parked in the building garage on the kitchen counter. The apartment itself was pleasant enough, but it signalled a warning deep in his mind that their departure was not as impromptu as he had been lead to believe.

Genji ignored the lightly decorated living room and plowed through Hanzo with his suitcase, ducking his head into the two rooms down the hallway one by one as the omnic backed out of the doorway to return the rental car, informing them that it would return shortly.

"Yeah, yeah. Dibs on this one!" Hanzo fumbled out of his thoughts, following Genji's voice towards their bedrooms. He wandered through the open door to the unclaimed room and tucked his bags into the empty closet, then collapsed onto a plush white comforter tucked into the tall bed. The room itself was fairly plain, but a heavy pair of blue velvet drapes hung parted to reveal a small balcony overlooking the street and bustling city below, and the bed frame and dresser were a rich cherry-tinted wood reminiscent of his room back at the castle in Hanamura. Comfortable enough for an extended stay, but he was too tired to ponder the ramifications of that. Hanzo kicked off the pair of Genji's sneakers he had borrowed and burrowed himself under the blankets, passing out before remembering that Genji had not yet brushed his teeth.

* * *

A sliver of sunlight tickling Hanzo's eyes the next morning stirred him a few hours before noon - perhaps one benefit to sneaking across the country in a matter of days was the lack of jet lag. Abrasive fabric stuck to his collar and stomach as he squirmed under the heavy blankets, recalling that he had forgotten to remove his - or his brother's, rather - clothes before falling asleep. Genji's modern wardrobe was better suited to blending into the city, no matter how garish the colors. His own training armors and robes would look out of place even in the majority of their own country, so Genji's t-shirts and jeans it was, for the both of them.

Rolling out from under the covers and stumbling on his sleeping toes, Hanzo sludged to the door of his new room. Light from the balcony window forced his eyes shut to a squint as he cracked it open and made for the kitchen. As his vision adjusted to the waking world, he found Genji already slouched in the sofa with a granola bar in his mouth and a portable game in his hands; he turned as he heard the soft slip of Hanzo's socks across the wood floors.

"Who's falling behind on hygiene now, Hanzo?" Genji snorted through his breakfast, hopping to his feet already dressed for the day ahead. Hanzo grunted in a tired attempt at a sarcastic laugh, but his brother had always been the morning person. The omnic was in the kitchen, and as he rounded the island counter it placed a white mug of black coffee in front of him. He settled into a barstool and Genji bounced up into the one next to him. "It's instant, there isn't a lot of food. New Dad said it'll get groceries while we're touring the local school."

"Mmf," Hanzo groaned, resting his face in his arms on the counter. He considered taking a sip of the coffee, but he didn't want to burn his tongue. Besides, he preferred tea, and New Dad would- wait. "What did you call it?" Hanzo sat up stock straight again as Genji burst into a fit of giggles.

"New Dad! Since we'll probably never see father again," his brother repeated, more solemn but the grin remained, brushing an anxious hand through his spring-green locks and fingering at where the dye was beginning to fade.

"Don't..." Hanzo began, slumping into himself. "Don't say that." Genji didn't reply that time, but snaked a hand across the counter to grab Hanzo's mug. He took a long sip and sighed.

"We can talk about it some other time," He sized up Hanzo's wrinkled outfit. "C'mon." Genji set the mug back down and dropped from the stool back onto his feet, tugging his brother towards their bedrooms.

Hanzo groaned in protest but allowed himself to be jerked along and shoved into his own room, followed by a pair of jeans and a fresh shirt Genji had picked before he had woke. His own door slammed behind him.

"Be careful!" He whined at the loud noise, which was followed by another bout of Genji's airy laughter. Stripping his sweaty clothes and wishing he had more time to shower properly, he changed into the clothes his brother had provided. Despite Genji being a year younger, the jeans were a tad long on his ankles, even with their high waistband. The little green imp had managed to grow taller than Hanzo years earlier, and he had never caught back up. He brushed his fingers through his long hair hurriedly, gathering it into a smooth ponytail at his neck.

Quiety, Hanzo clicked his door back open to find his brother waiting for him on the other side, leaning up against the wall. He scrunched his heavy brows for a moment, then reached in to tuck Hanzo's light blue top into the hem of his jeans.

"Even better than yesterday," Genji grinned and tossed a light jacket across the hall for Hanzo to catch. If Genji found comfort in picking his clothes, Hanzo couldn't find it in himself to complain. He remembered his father's tight grip on his wrist as he was shoved into the car, begging for him to take good care of his little brother, keep him happy - the memory sent a jolt of ice down his spine and he shivered, slipping the jacket over his arms. The front door clicked open and snapped Hanzo back to the present.

"I'll be right back," he assured the omnic and Genji as he dipped back into his room for a moment, returning with a folded umbrella.

"Are you serious?" Genji quirked a brow. "We're in the middle of the desert!"

"I read the forecast online," Hanzo defended, looping it around his wrist. With what little control he seemed to have over his life at the moment, the very least he could do was be prepared for anything.

* * *

Their new school was a sunny few minute's walk away from the apartment, which Hanzo was grateful for. He didn't want kids asking questions about the new students' fancy car and high-class omnic help. Attending a public school at all had been Hanzo's idea in the first place - holing up and wasting away inside with homeschool lessons just wasn't as pleasant anywhere but their true home at Shimada castle. Genji had vouched for it, as well, he had always had a fondness for cowboy stories as a child, what use was living in that very Southwest if he didn't get to meet a few?

Genji's wish was granted as soon as they stepped into a small office down the school's main hall. Leaning back casually in a chair tucked into the modest desk was a boy capped with a classic Stetson and a burgeoning scruffy beard, rocking back with his leather boots propped up on the desk. He didn't even glance back at the two as they clicked the door shut, but he dropped back to his feet as the other door in the room opened and in came a hulking blonde man. The man shot a warning look at the boy in the chair, who stared coolly back, flicking a lollipop stick between his teeth.

"Jesse, I've told you to keep your feet off of my desk," the blonde was clad in a finely pressed formal shirt as blue as his eyes, and his tall form thumped down into the chair on the other side of the desk.

"Whoops," the cowboy finally looked over to the two brothers, silent in a corner of the office. He winked up at Hanzo, folding one leg over the other.

Hanzo blinked in surprise, then scowled and averted his eyes. Boys were Genji's frivolities, not his. Jesse shrugged and turned back to the principal, straightening the lapel of his dusty riding jacket. Genji shanked his elbow into Hanzo's rib.

"Don't be rude," he snickered in Japanese, but Hanzo remained silent, rubbing the bruise gently.

"Your filthy boots are not what you are here to discuss, at any length," the blonde man reminded Jesse. Hanzo spied a name placard on his desk and in the glinting sunlight from the window, he could just make out 'Jack Morrison'. Jack cleared his throat as Jesse feigned insult, polishing his boots with his knuckles. "Luckily for you, I've got more urgent matters to attend to, and they are ten minutes early," he gestured towards Hanzo and Genji.

"Thanks, guys," Jesse lurched to his feet and gave a curt nod towards the brothers as he made to leave.

"Not so fast," Jack stood again, and if he looked more than a little smug as Jesse stopped short and his shoulders sank, Hanzo ignored it. "You can wait here while I give these nice boys a tour of the school."

Jess let out a long, puppy-like whine as he collapsed back into the wooden chair. Hanzo snickered behind a hand as the principal lead them out of his office.

"Can't I join ya?" the delinquent cowboy offered hopefully, but the door slammed on his request.

* * *

After a monotonous history of the public school's building and an overly detailed tour, the brothers were back on the streets, though they were no longer so sunny. Hanzo smiled smugly as he popped his little umbrella open in the rolling downpour. Genji reluctantly joined him beneath it and they set off.

Hanzo tuned into the sounds of the rain as Genji gushed about that cute boy in the office, how if he wasn't going to go after him, someone else would have to, in reference to himself. The water thumped a bass sound into his umbrella, squelched in the dust below his sneakers and snaked down the surrounding buildings. He could hear the pleasant tap of his own feet, his brother's, and another unidentified pair. With the streets mostly bare, it was easy to pick out a squat old man, hair white and hide like tanned leather, speckled with moles. His thin wisps of hair and beard dripped down him like white water as he stumbled through the road with a wooden cane. As though he felt Hanzo's curious gaze, he looked up. Their eyes met for a moment before the man's frail body came tumbling down to the ground, splashing in the puddles.

Genji gave a noncommittal hiss of sympathy, then a squeak of surprise when Hanzo changed direction without thinking, picking up the pace to a trot until he could kneel at the man's side.

"Bless you," he mumbled weakly as Hanzo offered a hand under the dry of his umbrella and lifted him back to his feet.

"It's no trouble," Hanzo assured. Once the man was standing again, Hanzo slipped the rubber grip of the umbrella into his fingers, wrinkled and knotted like tree roots. The man adjusted his rain-spotted glasses to look back up at Hanzo, then nodded and patted his arm in thanks. Genji whined from the other side of the sidewalk as Hanzo returned to his side, hiking his jacket up to cover his hair as they sprinted the short distance back to the lobby of the high rise.

"Awful good heart you have for the heir to a criminal empire," Genji rolled his eyes and gave his back a light slap once they were safely out of the rain.

* * *

The next morning, Genji woke Hanzo, rather than the sun. A delicate poke to his cheek, followed by a sudden robbery of his blankets, had him on his feet in seconds.

Like it had promised, the omnic had purchased enough groceries to sustain the boys for a while, and a small breakfast was already prepared when Hanzo sleepily toddled to the kitchen, still in his pajamas. He had stayed up later than he would like to admit the night before, fretting over his father back home and to a lesser extent, their first day of school. A warm cup of tea promised momentary relief - it's not quite the same as back home when it washes down his throat, but similar enough for a pang of homesickness to grip his neck. False advertising, but he kept drinking.

Despite the previous day's downpour, the steps to the school were dry by the time Hanzo and Genji reached them. A few lingering students meandered up and down, but as he climbed, Hanzo's eyes were drawn upwards. Lounging nonchalantly in front of a set of double-doors was the same boy they'd seen in the principal's office, staring intently right back down at the sidewalk. Before Hanzo could be angry, he followed Jesse's gaze to a loose trio of other students a few feet away. Jeers and shouts could be heard, and a soft plea for mercy after each aborted shove two gave towards the other.

Hanzo looked back up to Jesse. His brows were furrowed, teeth ground together as he sat still, face contrasting the laid-back position his body held up against the side of the school. Eyes followed every move of the little group, and the moment one of the outer ring laid his hands on the shortest boy, all the tension in his body erupted.

"Knock it off!" Jesse sprang to his feet, fists clenched as he ducked under the stair railing to reach the boys and push aside two of the bigger ones, dragging their victim out by his arm. The smaller one sighed in relief as Jesse blocked him off. As he came into view, Hanzo realized that he couldn't have been much older than twelve, hugging the very same weighty textbooks that Hanzo held in his own bag to his chest.

Deep in the school building, an alarm buzzed. Genji reacted first, tugging at Hanzo's jacket sleeve as he stood, mildly entranced as Jesse chewed out the bullies.

"Hanzo, please! We'll be late!" his brother whined as Hanzo neglected to follow. At Genji's words, Jesse glanced over his shoulder at them. Now that he had caught the vigilante's gaze, Hanzo lowered his head and scurried towards the door with Genji at his side. Even from inside the building, he could still hear Jesse shouting expletives at the boys, daring them to pick on someone their own size. Though the cowboy was still a mite shorter than both of them, Hanzo had an inkling of thought that they would still be picking a losing fight. He chuckled internally as he neared the classroom the principal had shown him the day before - perhaps the 'delinquent' was more than what had met his eye. 

* * *

The cowboy had saved him this time, but he might not be there the next day - he hadn't been there the day before. Winston sighed heavily as Jesse herded the two upperclassmen inside the building, in relief or defeat even he couldn't say. When he had been offered the chance to move into accelerated classes at the high school, skipping multiple grades at a time, he had leapt at the opportunity. His head had been filled with dreams of graduating early, moving on to working with the national space program like he'd wanted since he was old enough to talk. What he hadn't considered were the social ramifications - he had no way to deal with boys twice his size picking on him besides hoping for the occasional mercy from a passerby or teacher. No matter how early he snuck in, they found him, pestering and pursuing him until retreating to avoid being late. Sometimes he wished he was their size, just for a day - he'd smack some respect into them, damn the consequences.

"Why stop with them? I can make you big enough to smack plenty of sense into anyone or anything you wish."

Winston looked up in surprise, scanning the area. The late bells had already rung; he was alone outside, as far as he could see.

"Who said that?" he wondered suspiciously, giving the sky a good once-over as well.

"I am the Reaper, little boy, and you are now my beast," the disembodied voice whispered, gravelly and low. Its tone indicated that this was fact - not up for discussion.

"I'm not so sure I-," Winston's voice was cut off by a tightness in his throat, he gagged and collapsed to his knees, chest throbbing as his vision went dark.

* * *

Hanzo was absentmindedly playing with a lock of his own hair, faintly listening to the teacher outline a concept he had learned years earlier in his homeschooling, when the classroom went dark. A girl screamed from the back corner, and a few boys laugh until the announcement system crackled to life.

"This is not a drill. Commence lockdown procedures! An unidentified creature is outside the building!" he recognized the panicked voice of the burly blonde principal, even through the low quality audio relay. The students fell silent and the teacher rushed to the windows to draw the blinds. She's not quite fast enough, and before the crackly plastic draws over the final pane, a horrifying face peered inside.

It's hard to see through the glare in its fishbowl helmet, but it appeared to be a mass of living tar, speckled with festering stars and galaxies. They squirmed and swirled in its gaping maw as it gave a mighty roar that shook the very building. This time, there were significantly more screams. The same liquid made up its entire form, from dagger-like teeth dripping with celestial drool to its writhing tongue, making for a display as disgusting as it was terror-inducing. Hanzo stood quietly from his seat while the rest of the class was distracted with the beast and slipped out the door as he felt his stomach churn and his breakfast bubble in his throat. Some realistic nightmare, this was. He made swiftly for the bathrooms across the hall; even in a dream he would prefer to avoid vomiting on the classroom floor.

After a thorough rinse of his mouth with the lukewarm water from the sink tap, Hanzo reached inside his bag for the cheap cell phone the omnic had given him the night before, intending to check up on dream-Genji. Before the smooth plastic of the phone, though, his fingertips brushed a fine wooden box.

"Odd," he murmured, sliding it out into the dim lighting from a frosted window on the wall. Octagonal in shape, black with red and gold accents painted a distinctly eastern design - not the type of thing he would expect to find in the deserts of North America, certainly. When he pops the lid open, he's greeted with a puff of dust and stale-smelling air, which he blows away with a breath of his own air. Inside rests a golden silk ribbon, folded pristinely. Its fishscale pattern glints in the low light, and Hanzo reaches down to run a forefinger along it. The moment his skin brushes the ancient silk, blue smoke erupts from somewhere within it. Startled, Hanzo tosses the box up, and it lands in the sink.

"Careful with that!" an offended voice scolds, and Hanzo squeaks in surprise, whipping around to look for the speaker. He comes eye-to-eye with a miniature blue dragon floating in mid-air, long and lean with a beard and horns. Its tiny claws scrabble at the air as it bounds on top of his shoulder and launches off it, landing in the sink next to the box.

"S-sorry," Hanzo lifts the box gently in two hands. "This is becoming an awfully strange dream..."

"This is no dream, my Dragonfly," the little beast floats from the sink and brings its miniscule fangs down into the flesh of his thumb.

"Ow! That-" Hanzo's eyes widen. "Hurt?"

"Do you believe me?" the dragon blinks its eyes tiredly as Hanzo nods his head vigorously, breathing beginning to hitch.

"That thing outside is real?"

"Of course," It coolly drifts to sit atop the ribbon. "I am Toyoll, a Kwami. If you so wish, I will grant you the power to stop the it." The dragon's voice is more serious as it makes its offer.

"Excuse me? Stop it?" he nearly chokes on his own spit. "I could hardly look at it!"

"Quite unfortunate," Toyoll yawned.

"Can't you ask-" but the Kwami cut him off.

"No, no. No one else," it waved its paw at him, scoffing. "You have been chosen. Either you accept these powers, or the monster will run free and destroy this city."

"Those aren't very fair choices..." he murmurs, and the dragon flits up to sit on his shoulder.

"Hurry and decide, boy, that thing is wreaking havoc as we speak!" Toyoll stopped still for a moment, then clawed at a loose strand of hair. "Once you put the ribbon on, there's no turning back, but gold is definitely a good color for you," it smirked.

"As if I didn't know that..." Hanzo tried his best to laugh back, but his fingers shake over the soft surface of the magic ribbon. He was duty-bound to keep his brother safe while their father fixed the clan's affairs - if that meant protecting him and the rest of the town from a horrifying slime monster, then so be it.

"Just say, 'transform me'."

He reached up to tie the ribbon into his ponytail, thin fabric almost buzzing between his fingers.

"T-transform me?" he stuttered, squeezing his eyes shut. As the knot in the ribbon tightens, Toyoll disappears, and he feels a cool, cleansing wave wash over his body.

* * *

"Jesse, stay here while I check the hallway for stragglers, okay?" Jack's voice is panicked as he dug through his desk drawers for a flashlight. Jesse nodded, speechless, as he stares at the creature's body through the window. Its feet were the size of cars, leaving dents in the grassy field out back. It had materialized out of seemingly thin air just a few minutes after the principal had busted him for cursing and yelling at those bullies - sometimes it felt like Jack had a vendetta against him.

"Let me out! Hey!" a muffled voice from the ground caught his attention as the door slammed shut.

"Who..." he furrowed his brows as he peeked over the desk and found nobody.

"In your bag, dumbass!"

"Rude," Jesse grimaced and popped his messenger bag open. A blur of orange-brown fur came hurling out, flinging itself onto the brim of his hat.

"The box, the box!" it urged, and Jesse spied an unfamiliar box among his books.

"What's with the rush?" he wondered as he lifted it to eye level, peering along the red and gold designs.

"We're late!" the fur peeked down over his hat, and Jesse could finally see a long snout and whiskers. It looked a bit like a scruffy dog, if dogs were the size of fat caterpillars. "Can't leave your partner waiting!"

"Pardner?" Jesse clicked the box open.

"Part. Ner," the dog repeated, deadpan, clearly unamused with his drawl. Inside the box lay a garishly large vanity belt buckle, bearing the acronym BAMF.

"God, that's awful," Jesse chuckled, lifting it and dropping the box to the desk unceremoniously to give it a better look over. "This for me?"

"Not so fast! If you put on that buckle, you are accepting the duty of protecting this city from monsters!" the pup tumbled from the brim of his hat down to his shoulder. "I am Wenndi, and I can give you magical powers if you choose to-"

"Hell yeah!" Jesse's eyes widened.

"Oh. You... Really?" Wenndi seemed confused, blinking. "It's a full time job, you know. No going back."

"I get it, I know," Jesse waved the words off. "I'm down! Let's go! Can't keep that partner you mentioned waitin'."

"Right, right," Wenndi sighed. "Well, then, Coyote. Just say 'transform me'," the cowboy nodded as he finished fastening the buckle to his belt.

"Transform me?" the tiny dog vanished, and an invigorating fire rushed down his limbs.

* * *

"Hey!" A loud bark from the ground caught Dragonfly's attention as he watched the monster turn its attention away from the school and towards the rest of the city, ignoring him completely. From a wider perspective, it's easy to see that the soupy monster is contained in a white space suit. A figure leapt up on the roof of the school, stumbling up next to him. "Damn, that's gonna take some gettin' used to," He chuckled. "So, I figured you're probably my partner, right?" He offered a hand.

"Partner?" Dragonfly's eyes lit up. "I don't have to defeat it alone?" He tentatively placed his right hand, decked in a fingerless glove, into the man's own leather-clad fingers.

"'Course not! Coyote, at your service. And, you are?" he gave a slight tip of his Stetson with a grin, an excited glint in his masked eyes as he sized up his new partner. Blue horns sprouted from his head, along with the tail of a serpentine predator at his hips. A tight black braid fell down his back, fanned by a delicate golden scarf, and an intricate swirl of scaley ink peeked from his bare shoulder. "Well, damn lovely, for one thing," Coyote gave a soft whistle, and the skin below the soft dusting of blue and gold scales on Dragonfly's cheeks glowed pink. He pursed his lips and withdrew his hand, swiveling back towards the lumbering beast tearing up the road into downtown.

"Aw, what's wrong?" Coyote pouted. Dragonfly was silent as he brought the delicate bow on his back forward, and Coyote mirrored with the silver revolver at his hip.

"I am not here to flirt with you," Dragonfly mumbled, pulling back his empty bowstring and taking aim at the monster's massive back, and an arrow forms from thin air as he releases. The magic weapon is similar enough in weight and give to his bow back in Hanamura, one that he loved to spend long hours practicing with when he had finished his studies for the day. A fondness for this new weapon crept into his skin and he grips it a little tighter.

"Don't mean I can't," Coyote gave the gun a spin, testing its weight.

"Watch out!" Dragonfly grabbed onto the royal blue bandana around Coyote's neck as the great, slow beast very suddenly crashed its fat hand into the roof of the school and leapt into the air to avoid it. The two landed on the demolished road.

"Phew! You done this before, darlin'?"

"No!" Dragonfly barked, exasperated, and jumped up onto the building across the street, scaling the face of it. The creature took another swing, stomping its foot into where Coyote had stood moments before for leverage. Just before the fist hits, Dragonfly hopped to the roof of the building, letting the monster slam its knuckles into the concrete and windows. The massive white glove is trapped for a moment, and Dragonfly prayed silently for it to stick. To no avail, though, as it is ripped right back out, no worse for the wear. In comes the glove again, smacking flat against the roof Dragonfly stands atop. He dodged with another leap, but his timing was off and he landed on the back of its hand. Coyote made his way back to the roof of the school, skipping over the widening hole above the middle of the hallway. He took careful aim with his revolver, this time at the fishbowl helmet rather than the larger target of the monster's back as Dragonfly sprinted across its arm. Luckily, it's too sluggish to shake the hero before he reached the relative safety of the beast's shoulder.

A spidery crack in the glass echoes loudly as Coyote took his first shot, hitting the helmet dead center, and the slime gives a great bellow, loud enough to shake Dragonfly's balance momentarily. It swung for him again, but he dashes to its other shoulder, letting the fist smash into the fishbowl. Dragonfly's eyes widened as he saw the solution in the webby pattern of breaks in the helmet.

"Coyote! Weaken the glass!" he shouted into his hand, and Coyote nodded vigorously, seeing the plan as well. He popped another four shots into the helmet, spreading the cracks all around the front. Inevitably, it goes in for another swing, and Dragonfly dodged yet again, pulling a second weapon off of his back: a long golden sword. He stabs it into the already-softened glass, weakening it further. Knuckles hit the middle of the five gunshots and slashes, and finally smash through the bowl entirely. Again, the creature roared, but this time its huge body crashed into the road, motionless save for the slime oozing its way out of the helmet.

As the space suit fell, Dragonfly lost his balance on its shoulder. Coyote jumped to his rescue, sliding out underneath his falling body just in time to catch him in his arms.

"I'm not all that useless, am I?" he grinned and set the blushing dragon back on his feet as he sheathed the sword and draws back the string of his bow again. Words bubbled to his lips as the awful sticky beast makes to jump upon and eat them, drooling more stars than are visible in the city sky.

"Ryuu ga waga teki wo kurau!"

The arrow formed by the shout was engulfed in a magnificent blue flame, and from it burst forth two mystical dragons much like the Kwami he had met earlier. They rushed at the slime and dove down its throat, ripping it to shreds like it was paper rather than a gelatinous beast. It melted away with a faint shriek, and to the heroes' surprise, a young boy remained unconscious on the ground where it had vanished.

Dragonfly dashed forwards and lifted the child's head into his lap - he could feel weak breath on his wrist. The boy had simply fallen asleep from the exertion.

When he looked up from the crumpled body, he's amazed to find that his dragons had not only freed the boy, but repaired the extensive damage he had done; the school roof, high rise windows, even the dents in the school field were as good as new.

"Mighty useful trick that is, doll," Coyote whistled, sauntering up behind Dragonfly and the boy as the dragons came to rest by his sides, fading into a soft blue mist. He could almost hear the man scowl as he comes closer.

"I am not your 'doll'," the dragon rose to his feet and thrust the child at Coyote. "Return this boy to his parents.

Coyote nodded, grabbing the kid under his armpits and hiking him up on his hip. Dragonfly turns away, making to leave.

"Hey, wait!" Coyote whined. "You gotta tell me your name, at least, partner!" The raven-haired serpent sighed in defeat.

"You may call me Dragonfly," he said with a tiny smile, then takes a running leap and scaled the face of one of the newly-repaired buildings.

* * *

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	2. The Gopher

**i honestly thought this chapter would be shorter... damn.**

* * *

As soon as Coyote was out of sight, Hanzo felt his transformation ripple down his body like fish scales, leaving him collapsed on his knees in the grass behind the school building. His nails dug into the turf as Toyoll floated up to his shoulder, dropping limp in a similar state of exertion. Hanzo took a moment of silence, focusing on steadying his breath, until Toyoll interrupted the peace with a squeal - it was more fitting of a rodent than an elegant dragon, but Hanzo wasn't one to judge.

"You did fantastic!" It gushed, flipping over onto its back as Hanzo fell to rest against the building. "Natural as could be. I knew you were the right choice," Hanzo could feel his ears turning pink with the compliments, but a smile stretched his lips all the same as he knocked his head backwards into the brickwork.

"Thank you," he laughed quietly, he could still feel his fingers shaking in disbelief as he mulled the past hour - he had leapt upon a building, taken down a supervillain, and saved a child from a horrible fate as a slimy monster. Certainly not hobbies of his back in Hanamura, but he supposed that a new home called for trying new activities, at least. "I wish you would have mentioned the partner in your little explanation," he poked at the dragon's tiny horns with a pinkie. The beard and mane around its head were silky-soft, scales wrapping its lithe body like velour. A little puff of steamy breath from its snout brushed Hanzo's skin as he stroked its head.

"My apologies," Toyoll yawned, scratching harmlessly at Hanzo's thumb. "I forgot about him. A bit garish, isn't he?" The boy thought back to the cherry-tinted leather coat, royal blue bandana strung scamp-like around his neck, and the musk of a reliable old dog when he had been close enough to catch a whiff.

"I would call that an understatement," Hanzo pursed his lips and willed his wobbly legs to stand him back on his feet. "I am rather curious as to who is behind that mask of his," he admitted, and Toyoll gave a lock of his long bangs a sharp tug. "Ow!"

"No! Neither of you are ever to reveal your secret identities, even to each other!" its tone became serious as it stalked down Hanzo's arm, landing in his cupped palms. For a moment, it reminded him of his own sprint across the monster's arm, but then he tuned back into Toyoll's lesson. "If you tell Coyote who you are, what do you think will happen if he's turned into a monster himself? The Reaper will know who you are-"

"Reaper?" Hanzo interrupted, then bowed his neck as the tiny dragon shot him an icy glare.

"The Reaper is a powerful evil force. He was behind the monster you fought today, and will control all those you face in the future."

"More!" the boy cried in disbelief. "I thought this was a one time thing!"

"Of course not," Toyoll chuckled, chasing itself into a comfortable spool atop Hanzo's palms. The fur of its tail tickled his pale skin. "Now that he knows you and Coyote will be protecting this city, he'll likely come after you."

"What does he want with us?"

"You remember that lovely ribbon, the one in your hair?" the dragon sighed as he inspected the glint of the metallic fabric in sunlight from afar. Hanzo nodded. "That is your Miraculous, your link to me and the only way to transform into Dragonfly. You must protect it with your life - if the Reaper got his claws on it, he would be unstoppable."

"What does he want?" Hanzo shifted his Kwami into one hand and reached up to cup his Miraculous protectively with the other.

"Hard to say, but at the moment..." Toyoll slipped its tiny golden eyes shut. "I would imagine that his spirit seeks vengeance against those who wronged him, and that he's content to destroy until he gets it." A shudder ran down Hanzo's spine, even under his jacket in the beating New Mexican sun. The lack of concrete motive made him more uncomfortable than it should have - the absolutely demolished buildings, the hole in the roof of the school, all for nothing but a grudge. He would hate to have to face him, the puppet master, in the flesh. He tucked Toyoll into the deep pocket of his coat and made for the back door of the building.

"Hanzo!" the dragon suddenly popped its head over the hem of the pocket, bidding him pause. "I nearly forgot to mention! After you've used your power, you only have five minutes before you de-transform. Use them wisely!" It warned, scrabbling little claws into his side.

"I'll try my best," Hanzo sighed and gave the beastie's head a light stroke, coaxing it back into his pocket.

When Hanzo slipped inside the school building, he wasn't all that surprised to find the hallways empty. His light steps echoed from the high ceilings, and he casually drifted until he was walking on the side, rather than barrelling down the middle. The fluorescent lights were still out, though he was sure he must have repaired the power lines along with the school itself. Mismatched white tiles beneath were lit only by the intermittent windows perched between rows of lockers.

The door to his classroom was locked, and he cursed his own foolishness - the school was empty. Nobody had seen him, besides maybe his little Kwami, but a flush burned his cheeks all the same as he ducked his head and pushed one of the heavy front doors open, back out into the sunlight.

Outside, a little flash of green caught his eyes as Genji dashed up the steps two at a time to meet him at the doors. He was bouncing, sneakers scraping the concrete.

"There you are! Where did you sneak off to, brother?" he wrapped Hanzo in a tight hug as he greeted him with a mushed shout in Japanese, grabbing at his hands. Toyoll squirmed in his pocket and he pulled back from Genji's body in sympathy, giving the Kwami more air to breathe.

"I was..." Hanzo began, avoiding Genji's eyes. Certainly he couldn't reveal that he was the masked vigilante that had taken down the creature - he wasn't exactly a fan of superhero stories, but even he knew the importance of a secret identity. His brother looked expectant, raising his eyebrows with every passing second that Hanzo didn't respond. "A-asleep!" Hanzo's voice trembled as he spit the excuse, hiding his mouth behind a hand and curling in on himself - nobody would believe that he had slept through a monster attack.

"You passed out!" Genji bellowed, laughing from deep in his chest. "I should've known, you wuss!"

"Passed... Out..." Hanzo repeated in disbelief as Genji doubled over onto his knees. Bitterness tinged his sigh. "Yes. I passed out." So much for appreciation.

"I was awake for the _whole thing_ ," his brother boasted, gluing his fists to his hips and puffing out his chest. "That thing's huge hand was right in front of the window, too!" Hanzo neglected to mention that the creature's face had been pressed right up against his classroom, breathing acid steam against its helmet as its soulless eyes stared him down.

"You're so brave, brother," Hanzo rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Did you see the superheroes, at least?" Genji was back to hopping in place, excitement hardly contained.

" _Superheroes?_ " Hanzo wasn't the best actor in the world, and he knew it. He practically drooled sarcasm, but Genji was far too enthralled to notice. He launched into a loud spiel in their native tongue, and Hanzo was glad that he had not chosen English - his words were embarrassingly childish.

"You should've seen them! They had magic powers and everything!" Genji gushed, balling his fingers into fists. "One of them was a _dragon_ , Hanzo! A dragon!" Hanzo chuckled quietly as he watched his brother's glee play out in front of him with wide gestures and loud words. It was hard to imagine any more expression, but he was sure Genji could manage it, given the right trigger - how would he react if he found out that his quiet brother was this magic dragon he fairly idolized?

* * *

"Oh, sweet Jesus," Jack looked mortified, sweating through his cotton dress shirt as he loosened his tie and rolled up his sleeves. Coyote tried his best not to chuckle at the sight as he held the sleeping child, curled peacefully up against his slick leather coat. He was pretty strong on his own, but transformed he was hardly breaking a sweat running around with a 100 pound kid in his arms. Pretty incredible, he thought as he hefted Winston up into the principal's waiting hands.

"Is he okay?" the blonde worried, pressing a thick finger to the child's neck, searching for a pulse.

"He'll be fine, J-," Coyote cut himself off, mid eye-roll at the blonde's fretting. How many people called the school principal by his first name? No matter what he did, Jesse was sure Morrison could find a way to spin it on him and land him in detention again, or worse. He'd threatened suspensions plenty, but had luckily never dished one out. "He'll be fine, sir."

Coyote could feel Jack's eyes on him as he scampered away, bounding atop the newly-repaired school roof. His getaway had to be cool and mysterious, or what was the point? As he rolled out his momentum in the gravel of the rooftop, he shed his transformation. It felt a little like stripping himself of a sweaty shirt in the summer, and for a moment he wished he could do just that. With a pant, the little dog-Kwami scrambled into his lap from the burning surface of the roof.

"Why'd you have to come up here to do that!" Wenndi howled, scratching at its overly-warm stomach with a hind leg. Jesse laughed and threw his head back, holding his hat steady. He ignored the Kwami's moans and griping as he stood, brushing gravel from the seat of his jeans and wiping a slick of sweat from his forehead. Wenndi clung to his undershirt with its curved little claws, climbing it like a kitten on a drape until he could comfortably wriggle into Jesse's breast pocket.

"Did you see the way Dragonfly took that thing down?" he gave a low whistle, tucking his thumbs into the pockets of his jeans as he headed for the shade of the doorway back inside the school. "He was incredible."

"Yeah, yeah, Dragonfly is great, _whatever_ ," Wenndi sighed. "We were cool too!" he could hear a pout in the dog's voice.

"More than just _cool_ ," Jesse stuck two fingers into Wenndi's little pocket, fishing it out with a toothy grin. "We did amazing."

"Dragonfly couldn't have purified the monster if you didn't catch him," the dog grinned back, squirming happily as Jesse scratched its soft underbelly.

"Purified... Is that what he did? Can I do that?" Jesse interrupted himself with a gasp, raising Wenndi to eye level. "Do I get to call demon coyotes?"

"That's ridiculous," Wenndi rolled its eyes. "Your power will make a monster vulnerable. Break its armor, kind of," the Kwami made a breaking motion with its paws. "But you can't return them to human form, or fix the damage they've caused."

"Oh," Jesse huffed a surprised sigh. "That's pretty neat, I guess."

"It _is_ neat!" Wenndi whined indignantly. "If you like Dragonfly so much, why don't you just switch Kwamis with him?"

"Hey, hey!" the cowboy scratched under the dog's chin. "I never said you weren't just as good! Besides, archery ain't really my style..." As Wenndi rubbed up against his fingers, he thought back to learning to shoot, the fancy silver revolver his guardian had given to him for protection after it was clear he needed it, if he was gonna run with Deadlock. His association with the gang had begun to fade when the man had suddenly died under suspicious circumstances, but the leaders were none too happy. He avoided the outskirts of town, now, knowing they were not brazen enough to confront him at school or in the busy city center. With the cat-like dog in his palm, now, he thought that maybe he didn't need to be so scared of them anymore.

"Good," the jealous little creature made its way back to Jesse's pocket, settling back inside.

"Do you know who Dragonfly is?" Jesse murmured curiously, shushing Wenndi as he began to complain again. "I'm just curious, honest!"

"Couldn't tell ya if I wanted to," the pup smirked, shifting into a more comfortable position. "He was chosen after you - it's better if you don't know, anyway. Safer." the boy gave a disappointed sigh as he finally clicked the door back into the school open.

Down on the ground floor again, he found himself right back outside after realizing the school was empty. The stairs were mostly abandoned, besides the pair of boys he had seen in Jack's office the day before. One was bright and sunny, babbling in some language he hadn't a hope of identifying. If the taller one's wide movements and hand gestures were anything to go by, though, he might have a bit of expertise in the subject matter. Silently, he crept behind the shorter one, the one that had rejected him in the office, as he was too amused to notice. With a quick intake of breath, settling his chin above his shoulder, he spoke as loud as he could:

"Howdy, boys." The raven-haired one jumped a solid foot into the air, flailing his arms in panic until he swiveled on his toes to find Jesse behind, who greeted his flaming glare with a curt tip of his hat. The green-haired one stopped his explanation and burst out into a fit of laughter as his brother fumed, red from the tips of his ears to his trembling fingertips. "I don't believe we've been properly introduced, hm?" He offered a hand to the older one, who promptly turned his back to it, hunched over and still pink from his scare. The other eagerly bounded over to give it a hearty shake, though.

"I'm Genji!" he grabbed onto his brother by his jacket sleeve and tugged him to unwillingly face the cowboy, too. "This is Hanzo - don't let his height fool you, he's the older one," Genji snickered as Hanzo gave his hand a swat.

"It's barely a few centimeters," Hanzo murmured unhappily, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Name's McCree, but y'can call me Jesse. I always liked shorties, anyway," Jesse stuck out a taunting peek of tongue, and Hanzo scoffed. Ignoring the unpleasant look on his face, Jesse continued from where he had meant to butt into their conversation, initially. "Rough first day this musta been, huh?"

"Rough? It was so cool!" Genji gushed, dropping right back into his enthusiastic tirade. "It's like we're in a comic book!"

"Guess that ain't so far from the truth," McCree chuckled, scratching at the wisp of beard on his jaw. "That Dragonfly was really somethin'."

"Dragonfly?" Genji and Hanzo asked together, Genji's eyes widening in excitement and Hanzo sounding like he had swallowed a lump of bile. Jesse realized his mistake and bit his lip.

"Yeah! Coyote and Dragonfly, that's what they were called, right?" he turned the question to them, hoping they didn't press any further. Genji seemed satisfied, nodding vigorously. Hanzo looked a little green. He mumbled something in another language in his brother's ear, and Genji pouted back, whining something back in the same language. McCree was starting to feel a little uncomfortable, watching them argue when he couldn't understand a word of it. "Where're you guys from, anyway?" he queried, hoping to soothe the spat.

"Hanamura, in Japan. We just moved in yesterday," Genji ignored Hanzo's mystery pleas, in what Jesse now understood must have been Japanese. His face lit up all of a sudden and he grabbed onto Hanzo's right arm under his sleeve. "Our family has a history with dragons, just like Dragonfly! Maybe father could know something?" He asked aloud, and Hanzo shook his brother's hands off of him, shaking his head.

"Don't be absurd!" he sputtered, thrusting his hands roughly into his jacket pockets and then recoiling slightly as his knuckle brushed something. "Genji, we are going home! Now!" So that was what they had been arguing about.

"I can walk y'all back, if-" Jesse began to offer, but was cut off by an acidic hiss.

"No! We can get home just fine on our own, thank you!" the thanks was artificial and followed by a roll of the brunette's eyes as he dragged his startled brother towards their home, leaving Jesse standing dumbfounded from the top of the stairs.

* * *

"Hanzo, you didn't have to be so rude to him!" Genji whined loudly once the school was out of earshot, and Hanzo huffed without words in reply, brows still furrowed in frustration. He had enough to deal with, at the moment - a flirty delinquent and his nosy brother were not issues he wanted to add to his list. "C'mon, he's cute!" his little brother laughed. That he may be, but Hanzo had had enough of the unsolicited flirting.

"I don't feel well," Hanzo mumbled in reply. He did feel a tad nauseous, almost having his secret exposed so quickly. Maybe it would be best to avoid Jesse, even Genji if he continued to obsess over his dragonic alter-ego. Genji gave a hum of sympathy, the best sound Hanzo had heard since waking.

Arriving back at the apartment, they found the omnic tidying up the living space calmly. Genji plopped himself onto the couch and powered up the television, straight onto exactly the type of news story Hanzo dreaded hearing. A student inside the school had caught some amateur footage of his and Coyote's battle with Winston, and it was plastered upon the full expanse of the screen; Genji squealed with delight. Watching himself clad in that ridiculous costume, decked with a tail and horns, even, deepened the color of his cheeks, but he could see what his brother was so amazed about. If he forgot who he was seeing, Dragonfly _was_ incredible, cool and collected as he used the monster's own force to tear it apart. With a defeated sigh, he lolled into his bedroom and collapsed on the unmade bed - the omnic hadn't reached his room, it seemed.

"Haven't you slept enough, brother?" Genji called from the parlor, but Hanzo was already unconscious.

* * *

The scratch of a pencil against paper rang pleasantly in Lena's hand; she was beyond relieved when school had been called off on account of the building being torn up by a giant. Extra time to work on her project was exactly what she needed, no matter how the means she got it. She hummed happily as she sketched along a sheet of posterboard, but was interrupted by the buzz of her phone on the desk. Still drawing with one hand, she reached for it and answered.

"Lena! Are we still on for lunch?" A cheery voice greeted her.

"Lunch... Lunch?" She clicked her tongue, racking her memory: no, she didn't recall setting up lunch with anyone.

"Oh, come on! We agreed last week, remember? After you skipped out on Friday?" The girl on the other end was now significantly less cheerful.

"Right, right! Sorry 'bout that..." Lena chuckled, leaning into her desk. "'Fraid today's not too good for me, either-"

"Not this again!" The girl cried in frustration, and Lena paused. "You're such a ditz sometimes!"

"Sorry..." Lena mumbled, hurt. She gave her wall calendar a glance, and her stomach sank. Not only was the lunch date listed, but she had promised to help Lucio with his recording later that day.

"What time am I picking you up?" The phone demanded, disliking being ignored.

"Uh..." The petite girl bit her lip. If she paused to go out, she would have to work late into the night to make up for lost time on the assignment, especially with Lucio-

"I'll be there at two," she was informed curtly, and the other line hung up.

"Oh..." Lena scrunched her brows. She checked the clock - 1:45. If they ate fast and she got some work in before meeting with Lucio, she could still finish. Leaping to her feet and bounding to her closet to get ready, she was interrupted yet again by her phone. Sighing, she picked up, assuming it was the same friend.

"Lena?" Before she could hurriedly confirm the lunch, she paused at the familiar soft voice.

"Emily!" She slowed to a halt, smile touching her eyes as she listened to the tinkle of her girlfriend's airy laugh. They hadn't seen each other in months, not since Emily's transfer student program had brought her to London, ironically enough.

"I heard about what happened today! Are you alright?" the concern in Emily's voice was sweet and sincere, and Lena sighed happily.

"I'm fine, don't worry about me," she assured.

"Could we video chat tonight?" Emily seemed eager. They hadn't had a proper call in weeks, and Lena's gut dropped to her toes. She didn't have time, but there was no way that she could deny Emily's heartfelt request.

"S-sure, babe," she scratched at the back of her neck anxiously, and as Emily replied happily with a time she was free, her phone buzzed yet again - rapidly, multiple times. Lowering it from her ear, she found a multitude of new texts among her messy inbox. One from Lucio, confirming the time for her to come over and help with his recording - she cringed. Three more, from her parents. As she clicked through them, she nearly fell to her knees. They wanted her to babysit.

Wishing Emily a good night and hanging up, Lena muffled a frustrated groan with pursed lips. Friends, relationships, they were too stressful sometimes. She tried so hard to remember things and schedule them properly but -

" _Wouldn't it just be easier to be everywhere at once?"_ An eerie voice, gravelly and deep, asked from behind her eyes.

"Great, now I'm going crazy..." She mumbled, wiping a tear from her eye. Suddenly, she reached for her neck, scratching at her own thin flesh as a tightness froze her throat.

* * *

Hanzo awoke the next morning with a dry mouth. He licked his lips as he rolled from his bed, stumbling on his feet. Light shone brightly through the balcony window, indicating that it was early afternoon - school must have been cancelled again. Leisurely, he strolled his way out to the living room - Genji was nowhere to be seen, surprisingly, and he flipped on the television. As it flickered on, he was greeted with a still photo of Dragonfly, followed by a live feed of downtown, where Coyote was locked in a vicious battle. Hanzo yawned as he watched the hero valiantly fight back at least a dozen child-sized rat creatures. The news camera also managed to get a close glimpse at the leader of the gopher-henchmen: a petite girl, barely human sized, clad in orange goggles that made her eyes look massive and curled teeth like her servants; she laughs in amusement as her animals destroy the town from a million places at once, leaving buildings and homes in piles of rubble. Coyote seemed to be alone, and the beasts, small as they were, would overwhelm him eventually.

"Where's the other one?" Hanzo murmured in a sleepy confusion. He faintly remembered meeting Coyote, and there was one other hero, wasn't there? As more of the previous day collected in his tired mind, he remembered the school roof, the monster, Coyote catching him. Or had he caught Dragonfly? No, Dragonfly was the other hero... He was Dragonfly.

He was the other hero.

The sleep rushed from Hanzo's eyes as he tumbled to his feet with a yelp, scrambling back to his room, but his tiny Kwami was nowhere to be found. He heard a lazy knock at his door and threw it open to find Genji's surprised face.

"Brother! You're awake, finally," he chuckled, and held up his cupped palms in offering. "I found this little toy in my jewelry, figured it might be yours." Down he looked, and in Genji's pink palms, looped in thin gold chains and a few rings was Toyoll's lifeless body.

With hardly a thanks, he snatched the tiny dragon up with a low squeal of disbelief, shoving Genji out and ignoring his cries of "Rude!". He turned it over in his hand with mumbled exclamations of disbelief - power-granting beasts weren't pets, but he had somehow managed to kill what seemed to be an ancient magical creature faster than a toddler could kill their first goldfish! Had he forgotten to feed it, had it been attacked -

Toyoll rolled over onto its stomach.

"Your brother dresses well," it yawned nonchalantly, stretching like a tiny cat. Hanzo's mouth hung open. The Kwami watched him for a moment, unamused. "Are you trying to catch flies, Hanzo?" With a flush, he closed his mouth.

"I thought you had died!" he cried, wrapping the dragon tight in his fingers like a little hug.

"Of course not," it chuckled and wriggled itself out of Hanzo's grip. "It wouldn't do to have your brother find our little secret already, now would it?" He shook his head in agreement, then remembered why he had searched for Toyoll in the first place.

"There's something attacking the city! We need to go help Coyote!"

"Well, you know the magic words," the dragon smirked as Hanzo gave his chin a last fond tickle.

"Transform me!"

* * *

By the time Dragonfly arrived downtown - he'd finally started to get good at leaping from roof to roof - Coyote was a mess. The serpent found him battered and bruised, kicking desperately as the rodent-henchmen closed in on him. He panted like a dog, but managed a face-splitting grin when he spotted his partner landing on the roof by his side.

As far as Dragonfly could tell, the actual villain was nowhere to be found in the little skirmish. She had scampered off to hide while her servants did the grunt work with them - cowardly. Unsheathing the elegant curve of his sword, a few deep slashes were enough to neutralize the gophers on the roof, and Coyote whistled in relief.

"I apologize for arriving so late," Dragonfly gave a curt bow of his neck, and Coyote waved a hand in forgiveness, collapsing backwards comically, winded.

"Ain't no trouble, sugar," he sighed, sounding satisfied. "What kept ya?"

"I..." Dragonfly looked to the ground, finding the golden tips of his metal boots. "I slept in..."

Coyote chuckled, but didn't mention it again.

"They'll return for us soon. Let's get you somewhere safer," Dragonfly clenched a fist around Coyote's metal wrist, and his partner slipped out of his grip, only to replace it with his flesh hand, dressed in the same warm cola-colored leather of his jacket. The dog-like ears perched on his stetson and wagging tail sprouting from under his jacket were more expressive than Dragonfly's own stationary horns, but the little grin on his mouth said everything - he was delighted to see his partner.

"Whatever you say," Coyote kept up quite well as Dragonfly leapt from the roof to a balcony on a nearby hotel, then climbed the brickwork, digging his sharp claws into the stone. A few similar movements brought them atop a tall apartment high-rise, and Dragonfly spied a hiding place: a wide greenhouse topped with solar panels and bursting with greenery of all kinds. The rodents were chewing intermittently at the base of the building, but the roof seemed clear enough. They ducked inside the little glass box, and Dragonfly helped Coyote lower himself to the ground among shed petals and leaves.

His breath was heavy, and he leaned his head back against a table sporting plant boxes. Dragonfly couldn't help but pant as well in the humid air. Coyote reached up to remove his cowboy hat, and they both seemed surprised to realize his charming ears were not an attached accessory, but nestled atop his skull, among his messy chestnut locks. Coyote gave them a scratch. The knees of his jeans and leather boots were scuffed from his brawl, and his chest heaved beneath his jacket and the straps over his torso. Dragonfly glanced downward. Around Coyote's waist was a sturdy belt with a humorously large golden buckle - it bore a set of sharp doggish teeth framing a lolling tongue. Garish.

"What do you know so far about the villain?" Dragonfly turned his attention elsewhere, running his eyes over elegant hanging planters draped with vines and flowers.

"To be honest..." Coyote sighed. "Not much. Every time I get close to 'er, she just disappears and shows up somewhere else, kinda like teleporting." he chewed his cheek. "Not that I got very close in the first place. Those rats of hers are tough lil' buggers." the cowboy raised his arm to reveal deep clawed gouges in the leather of his sleeve, similar to ones in his boots. Dragonfly acknowledged the information with a hum.

"Can't you just take care of 'em with that magic dragon spell of yours?" Coyote looked up to Dragonfly expectantly. Dragonfly rolled his eyes with a chuckle.

"It's not a spell," he thought back to the phrase he had shouted before the spirits had reduced the previous day's slime monster to a child and repaired an entire city block effortlessly. "It's a purification. The words mean, 'let the dragon consume you'." They gobbled up the evil Reaper's control on the victim and reversed his damage.

"How'd'ya know?" Coyote cocked a brow. The words had sounded like gibberish to him.

"It was spoken in my native tongue," as if to prove it, he stuck the tip of his out. "Japanese."

"Oh," Coyote scratched the back of his neck. "Guess that makes sense."

"I'm sure the spirits would not have an issue with removing such a pest, small as she is."

"Great!" the exhausted Coyote sighed in relief, leaning further back into the plants tickling his cheeks. "Just gimme a minute to rest up, yeah?"

* * *

"Ryu ga waga teki wo kurau!" Dragonfly shouted the same words, and the same dragons appeared from his arrow, magnificent and terrifying all at once. He fired from the roof of the apartments, Coyote stood behind him, fending off the little beasties as they clawed their way up to interfere. Two twining spirits rushed their way around the city, curling between buildings and into the sky as they searched for the villain: she dodged every swipe.

The two heroes watched with growing unease as the dragons successfully repaired the buildings and roads, but the damage was just as quickly replaced by the little gophers. As for their master, she blinked through the air in little bursts, away from the dragons' snouts without trouble. Eventually, the frustrated spirits disappeared, and Dragonfly heard a tiny beep near his ear.

"Well, that didn't work," Coyote huffed, disappointed. Reaching back towards the beep, Dragonfly noticed one of the delicate fishscale emblems on his Miraculous had vanished, disappeared from the silk. "What next?"

"I..." Dragonfly began, eyes widening. Toyoll's warning: he had only five, now four, minutes before his transformation wore off and his secret identity was exposed. "I have to go! Now!"

"Go! You just got here!" Coyote whined, kicking the last of the current wave of creatures away from their roof, but another horde was fast approaching, along with their leader - there was a nasty glint in her goggled eyes that neither of them liked.

"I've used my power! My transformation will wear off soon-" Dragonfly began, tucking his arms close to his body as he panicked, searching the roof around them for an escape. The tone of his voice pushed Coyote to comfort him, realizing the stakes.

"Hey, hey! Calm down," Coyote shushed, seeing the frantic look in his eyes and tugging him back to their little greenhouse hideout. "You go. Rest up, change back, I'll hold 'em off for a little bit." Fear was not an expression he liked mixed into his Dragonfly's regal features.

"Will you be alright?" Dragonfly tucked a long bit of his bangs away from his face, looking up to the slightly taller boy with worry weighing his dark eyes.

"I'll be fine," Coyote assured, and pushed him gently towards the back entrance of the little shed. "Just try to hurry, okay?" The serpent nodded, creasing his brows when he heard little claws scrabbling at the glass doors. Coyote bit his lip and brought his revolver from its holster on his hip, turning to face the impending attack.

The doors shattered in a meteor shower of broken glass, and Coyote nailed the first rodent between its beady eyes, felling it instantly. He does the same to the second, and Dragonfly couldn't help but admire his marksmanship as he slipped out the back. One final glance backwards and three are down, but another beep sounded next to his ear.

* * *

Dragonfly's chin collided with the rug sprawled over his bedroom floor in the very moment that his transformation wore off. Toyoll tumbled along the ground, and Hanzo leapt after its tiny body, catching the Kwami before it rolled under the dresser. It looked exhausted, panting with glowing yellow eyes barely able to flutter open.

"How soon can we transform back?" he demanded, then covered his own mouth in shame at his own rudeness. "S-sorry..."

"Give me ten minutes, at least," the dragon yawned, and Hanzo stood, placing it delicately atop his pillow, warmed from the sunshine. It sank in deeply and Hanzo could almost have sworn he heard a purr along with the little stretch it gave. "I could use a cup of tea, if you don't mind..."

"Of course," Hanzo bowed at the neck, clicking the door shut quietly behind him as he hurried towards the kitchen. His own body was as lethargic and sluggish as Toyoll's, but he worked through the burn - Coyote would only be able to last so long on his own. He rushed to prepare two cups of instant green tea, not too hot, so they wouldn't have to wait for it to cool. As he worked, he clicked the television on from the remote on the counter. The news was still following the gopher attack, and the narrator was wondering aloud where Dragonfly had disappeared to. Had he snuck off for some surprise attack? Or had the serpent abandoned his partner, left him to defend the city alone like a coward? He alone knew the answer; even Coyote might have thought that he had been left to die.

When the tea was mixed, he brought the two cups back to his room, setting one on the nightstand and crossing his legs as he sat on the bed with the other between his hands. Toyoll wriggled around on the pillow, and Hanzo picked him up gently, placing him down next to the cup with the sigh of a tired mother.

"You shouldn't be so frivolous with your power," Toyoll murmured tiredly after taking a long sip of the lukewarm green liquid. "Save it until you've subdued your foe - it can't do everything for you, you know."

"I'm sorry," Hanzo hung his head,

"It's fine, you're doing fine," the dragon took another deep drink. "It's only your second battle, of many."

"Mm," Hanzo hummed into his cup, replaying the memory of his own departure. Coyote had steeled himself against the enemy, determined to watch Dragonfly's back as he escaped. He didn't think he could ask for a more loyal partner.

"I don't want you to rely on me to defeat your foes," Toyoll drew his attention as it straightened its noodle-like body, "But I do have some useful information."

"Ah?" Hanzo made a sound of surprise.

"Coyote has a power as well, you know. If he can get a vantage point on all of the underlings, he should be able to eliminate them," it licked its beard free of tea as it drained the last of the cup. "As well as open your enemy to attack." Hanzo blinked.

"And you didn't tell me this earlier, why?" he gritted his teeth and swallowed the last gulp of his own cup.

"I wanted to see if you could figure it out for yourself!" the dragon whined defensively. "In hindsight, a poor plan."

"Rotten little beast," Hanzo cooed and slipped his fingers under the Kwami's stomach, lifting it into his cupped hands. "Transform me!"

* * *

When Dragonfly located Coyote yet again, the sight was not pretty. Just before the hero plummeted off the edge of a hotel he'd been chased atop, the dragon landed next to him and grabbed him by the scruff of his jacket.

"Oh, darlin'," Coyote breathed weakly as his partner dragged him back to his feet and drew his sword. "Ain't never been so happy to see someone in my whole life." Dragonfly smirked at the comment as Coyote collapsed to the ground, boneless and tired out. He slashed right through the first row of gophers, and more stepped up to take their place: they meet a similar fate.

"Coyote!" he shouted above the squeak ad squabble of his opponents.

"Yeah, honey?" Coyote whimpered back, chest heaving up and down as he finally took a well-deserved breather.

"Are you up to trying your power?"

"Ain't got a clue how to use it, sug," he panted back. "But I'll sure as heck give it a try, if you think it'll help." With confirmation from his partner, Dragonfly pushed an exceptionally deep swipe of his blade, pushing the army back far enough for him to grab Coyote up by his hand and yank him off the edge of the roof he had just saved him from falling over.

They landed softly on the crumbled road, gophers pouring over the ledge after them like a waterfall, and Dragonfly jumped up, climbing them up to a building across the street. The creatures were stuck clawing and scratching at the bricks below, and he smirked. Dumb animals.

He had already scouted the best vantage point in the city before arriving, knowing it would be only a matter of time before the Gopher and her minions came to finish them. As Coyote finished catching his breath, they were off again, bounding across the network of rooftops and nearing the tallest hotel for miles. It was too high to leap from the rooftop, so they were forced back to the wrecked ground. As Dragonfly climbed straight up the front face, Coyote ran behind him, anchored only to his partner's hand - the little devils were right on their ankles, there was no time to be wishy-washy about heights.

The hotel had, unfortunately, already been breached by the time they reached it. Dodging claws and little paws, Dragonfly tossed Coyote atop the sturdy industrial chimney, and they both finally stopped to take a look behind them.

Filling the city like a sea, the creatures' commander had drawn every last one of them out of hiding to pursue them. She herself blinked closer with each passing second, following their path across the roofs.

"Now, Coyote!" Dragonfly gave the cowboy a light shove, and though he had remained quiet until then, his voice was deafening as power flowed through his body. His skin became exceptionally hot through his glove, but Dragonfly dared not let go.

"Draw!" Coyote shouted, like he was dueling the million grunts at once. He moved his revolver at lightning speed, bullets disappearing and reappearing in the round chamber as fast as they had vanished. The creatures fell, one by one, but not all of them were visible from the chimney. Coyote was still as a stone beside him, discounting his firing arm - it was up to him.

Dragonfly looped his hands around Coyote's waist, grabbing onto his belt buckle for a grip, and knelt slightly. With a deep breath, he leapt as high into the air as he could physically muster.

Even with the movement, Coyote never missed a shot. Dragonfly clung to his solid weight, holding his breath and refusing to look back down towards the roof. The air was thinner there, and he could have sworn he felt the brush of cloud against his cheek, where his skin and scales felt damp.

They began their descent, and Dragonfly felt his stomach drop to his toes. His ribbon and braid sailed around his face, but he could still feel his partner shooting down the army. He dared to open his eyes, and found the once-writhing mass of animal bodies nearly completely still. The last remaining opponent was the commander herself, and the expression below her goggles had morphed to absolute horror.

The last bullet seemed to move in slow motion as it exploded from the barrel of the six-shooter. It sliced the air, making its very own jet stream as it sped towards the villain's forehead. She tried her best to retain her dodging tactics, but miraculously enough, the bullet followed. Struck squarely between the eyes, she collapsed backwards, but no blood spilled.

Coyote and Dragonfly landed hard back on the roof, to their own surprise. Realizing the opportunity, Dragonfly was the first to rise; he drew his bow from his back and aimed across the street to where the Gopher lay still atop the opposite building.

"Ryu ga waga teki wo kurau!"

The dragon spirits seemed pleased as they gobbled up an enemy that had evaded them earlier. A petite, crumpled body lay where the foe had been, and the dragons swallowed up the bodies of the furry army, as well as all the damage they had done to the city and roads.

Sighing with relief, Dragonfly looked over his shoulder to where Coyote was laying, completely spent. A smile crossed the cowboy's lips when Dragonfly knelt over him and stroked his cheek with a gentle thumb.

"We did it." Coyote nodded. "You'll change back sooner, I'll take the girl home." A beep came from between their bodies, and Dragonfly glanced down with a snort as one of the sharp teeth carved into Coyote's belt buckle vanished. Fitting that the most stand-offish part of his outfit would be his Miraculous...

Dragonfly made his way over to greet the girl that they had freed as she sat up, rubbing her temples.

"What happened?" she moaned.

* * *

As Dragonfly collapsed into his bedroom for the second time that day, the door opened. Barely a second out of his costume, Hanzo dunked Toyoll under his blankets.

"Hanzo!" Genji grinned as he sees his brother sitting stiffly atop his bed. "Do you want to watch a movie? I found-"

"No, no thank you," Hanzo shook his head vigorously, standing to push the door closed. "I'm really tired, Genji, I just want to rest."

"You've been in bed all-!" Genji didn't get to speak his last word as the door shut into his face, and he sighed with a pout of defeat.

* * *

 **it's about midnight and my beta didn't have time to look this one over before i posted, so if there are any mistakes you can lmk. follow me on tumblr ( burst-bomb-bitch) for updates and art, leave a review or a favorite if you enjoyed!**


	3. The Crusader

**a little late, my apologies.**

* * *

"... And they lived happily ever after," Reinhardt gave a hearty chuckle as the young girl on his lap swooned to the cliche ending of her favorite fairy tale. A warm glow warbled over her chubby cheeks and forehead, firelight filling the den with a sleepy ambience as he rested in his oversized armchair, shrugging his leg gently. His other granddaughter, propped up against his ankle on the floor, stared deeply into the flames, blinking heavier with every passing minute.

"Sometimes," she yawned, patting at her own mouth and tucking her little legs up into her stomach. "I wish I was a princess, just so I could meet a knight like that." The younger girl on Reinhardt's lap agreed with a clap of her stubby fingers.

"You know, girls," Reinhardt gave a deep, nostalgic sigh, ruffling the younger's messy pigtails. "Your old grandpa used to be a mighty knight! Have I ever told you the story of how I lost my eye to a fearsome fire-breathing dragon?" He gestured to his right eye, scarred shut.

"Tell us, tell us!" The girl on his foot was suddenly wide awake, scrambling up to join her sister atop his lap.

"It was back in Germany, many years ago," He began, settling back into his armchair and hugging his granddaughters closer, but a scoff interrupted his sentence.

"Oh, please. You've told this story a million times, we're all sick of it," a boy curled into the sofa across the parlor groaned without lifting his eyes as he tapped away on his phone. "Stop being so dramatic, grandpa."

"Many years ago," he narrowed his eyes at the boy, and the older girl's glare joined his.

"No one cares about ancient history! It was just one eye," the boy finally looked up with an exaggerated sigh, rolling his own eyes. "It's not like you're blind, even." The youngest girl gasped, and Reinhardt fell silent. Blind he was not, though many of his comrades had suffered that fate and worse. Compared to the rest of his battalion, he was fortunate - all of his limbs still attached and in working order, half of his vision, a mind that served him as well as a sixty-year old man's could, but it had always brought him solace, the light in the children's faces and their excitement as he recited the tale of heroics and bravery, honoring the friends he had lost, even if it was a tad exaggerated.

"You should show a bit more respect for your elders, sonny," he tried his best to mask his own grimace with a chuckle, twisting his knuckles against the armrest of his chair - he was just a child, he didn't know what he was saying, there was no justice to be wrought here. His grandson sneered.

"How come? They're just gonna drop dead, anyway!"

The floodgates were open. The older girl on his lap leapt to action with fists swinging, shouting mild curses as she chased her brother to his feet. He yelped as he rounded the corner with her hot on his tail, and Reinhardt sighed. He dropped his face into his large palm.

"Grandpa?" They tiny girl on his knee looked up from the commotion to face him.

"Yes, princess?" He managed a tiny smile at the innocent blink of her big blue eyes.

"I love you," she crawled up his barrel chest to peck a tiny kiss to his scruffy white beard. "Good night."

"Good night, precious," he gave her jaw a gentle swipe of his fingers and she clambered to the floor, toddling after her siblings.

For every sweet thought of his girls' joy, Reinhardt could not help but recall that smug stare of uncaring on the boy's face. His gaze was drawn to the fireplace, still blazing, hot and golden. With a grunt, he forced the thought of Stuttgart and Eichenwalde from his mind; flames licking and chewing at the grassy hills of his home had no place there.

"Such a shame, no regard for all you've done for him," a gravelly voice, like that of a smoker's, purred into the knight's ear.

"Who said that?" Reinhardt demanded, whipping his neck around to search behind his chair.

"Those who do not fear the Crusader are fools," the voice continued, amused. "Show them."

* * *

"You're a hell of a lot dumber than I thought, snitch," Jesse heard a set of footsteps brush through the cold desert sand, followed by a few more as they shuffled after the leader of the pack. Someone spit at the ground and another took a deep drag from a cigarillo, cheap smoke burning Jesse's nostrils. He tensed his back and reached up to pull down the hoodie obscuring his face in shadows.

"Look pretty dumb, too," the ringleader smirked, and he would recognize the _schick_ of a switchblade anywhere. He grinned from beneath the mask pasted to his cheekbones, lowering his leather-gloved hand to the holster at his hip as his opponents did the same, fingers twitching, anxious for the draw. The shadows in the dark were barely perceptible, but he could make out three fuzzy figures circling around him, shuffling in their old tennis shoes. "You think you're some hero, comin' out here all alone, but you're just like that daddy'a yours."

"He wasn't my dad," Jesse licked over his sharp fore teeth.

"Don't matter. You're gonna end up in the same sandy grave, kid," the click of the gun was quick, but Coyote was quicker. He dove to the ground, but was careful to wait for the first deafening boom of hammer and powder before following up with a shot of his own, straight to the stomach of whoever was in the general direction the first shot had resonated from. The figure grunted and doubled over, clutching its midsection. Something dark began to wet the sand beneath Coyote's feet. He took advantage of the shock between the other Deadlocks, nailing the one with the knife in the shoulder, another in the thigh. If he wanted to, surely he could land the shots to their faces, their hearts, anywhere he pleased, but that would make him just as despicable. Besides, a dead man couldn't spread his warning for the rest of the gang:

"I ain't your kid no more, boys. You, all of you," he elaborated by waving the barrel of his revolver menacingly around the circle of fallen goons, squatting to meet the unfocused, glazed eyes of his first victim. "Best head for the hills. Got that? Tell everyone that Coyote don't take kindly to trash in his hunting grounds."

The thugs were silent, but Coyote knew he had made his point. As he stalked out of sight, he tucked the pleasant weight of his revolver back into its holster, knowing it had done justice that night. 'Daddy' would be proud.

He detransformed atop a slummy apartment building, jumping down to a rusted black fire escape as Wenndi gave him an earful.

"You can't be so frivolous with your powers!" it panicked, swiping paws over its own ears like an old man worrying at his bald patches.

"What's frivolous about cleaning up the city?" Jesse grinned, tucking his hands into his jacket pocket. "I'm doing exactly what a hero should: making the streets safer for everyone."

"Well..." Wenndi conceded. "Fine. But all of those men back there, they could figure out your secret identity! What are you gonna do then?"

"Them? Naw, they're too dumb," he chuckled and waved the concern off. "That wasn't enough by a long shot."

"But-" Wenndi began again, searching for another complaint.

"Calm down!" Jesse snatched it out of the air, cradling it gently in one hand. "I'm gonna get those thugs outta this town with or without you, okay?"

"There's no way you could do it without me," Wenndi scoffed, and Jesse nodded.

"Exactly."

"As long as you're careful..." the Kwami griped, sinking its little claws into the meat of Jesse's palm.

"I will be, don't you worry," Jesse tickled at its chin, pursing his lips as he thought back to the last person that hadn't been careful when dealing with the gang - he did, indeed, meet a sandy grave, and Jesse regretted it every day.

* * *

Stalking down the grimy fire escape and deeper into the city, back into the nicer parts of town, Jesse began to hear what sounded almost like an army - synchronized footsteps, the clash and shake of armor and weaponry. It was quiet enough to pass off as a hallucination, maybe his hearing was going, until he realized that the roads were oddly deserted - something was off. His suspicions grew the deeper he ventured until a massive tremor shook the ground beneath him, knocking him to his hands and knees. It appeared that Coyote had clocked out a few minutes too early.

"Wenndi, I hope you're not too tired," he unbuttoned his jacket pocket and the Kwami flew out, hovering protectively over the boy's shoulder.

"I'll be fine," It sniffed the air. "Whatever made that earthquake has gotta be huge. You should really wait for Dragonfly."

"Who jealous of Dragonfly now, huh?" Jesse teased, but sobered up as an aftershock bumped him onto his ass. Wenndi snickered. "Alright, alright. Transform me!"

Warmth washed over his limbs and he felt the familiar weight of his six-shooter resting against his thigh - he was really growing to love that thing. With a tip of his hat over his mask and a slight adjustment to his heavy belt buckle, Coyote was off, leaping for a wrought-iron balcony and clawing his way up the building; he had to find some way to get around without Dragonfly carrying him up walls, it was beginning to eat at his ego.

From atop the roof, he could see smoke and dust billowing from a street a block over - the villain appeared to be setting fires. Coyote grimaced as he took a running leap and cleared the street below, kicking up gravel as he landed on the flat roof of the opposite building. Peeking over the edge, he finally got his first glimpse at the villain. Wenndi had been right, he was huge - a massive knight, suited in heavy, clanking armor, over half the height of the five-story buildings lining the streets. A thick helm covered most of his head, but his face was visible through the front, an old looking man with a white beard and only one eye. Behind him marched a battalion of civilians, adults and children alike, clothed in their pajamas and slippers as he commanded them forwards with a burning sconce as tall as he was clutched in his chainmail sausage-fingers.

"Using innocents as soldiers?" Coyote cringed. "That's pretty low, for such a tall guy." He wished Dragonfly had beat him there, if only to hear his joke - he gave himself a well-deserved chuckle. Before he could pat himself on the back any further, the massive knight suddenly turned his head upwards, glaring at him with one dead eye and a smirk.

"Low, you say?" his voice was booming, so much so that it knocked Coyote back from the edge with its sheer volume - the accent was heavy and German. Most of the buildings in the city were quake-proofed, but even that could only put up with so much of this guy. "My hearing isn't what it used to be, sonny, would you mind speaking up?" He raised his torch and hurled a ball of fire from the flaming end, it hurtled through the air towards where Coyote stood frozen to the roof. He barely rolled out of the way in time and it singed the fur on the edge of his mangy tail as he stumbled over the edge of the building with a shout. Another close call, but he managed to hook onto the edge of a porch, pulling himself up to safety and thanking his gym teacher for the mandatory pull-ups all those years ago. He pressed himself against the sliding door, taking a moment to catch his breath.

The blue curtain behind the door was thrust aside and the door popped open.

"What are you doing out here?"

* * *

Hanzo was thrust out of his sleep by the sound of a heavy thud against his window, and he toppled from his bed, tangled in sheets. Toyoll sniffled in its own slumber, blinking itself awake and leaping from the bedside table to hover over Hanzo's shoulder.

"I think that's the fastest I've ever seen you wake up," it stretched in midair like a flying cat. "What's the occasion?"

"Something is outside..." Hanzo whispered, hushing the dragon. He crawled across the room to the closed curtains and lifted one corner inconspicuously so that he could look outside: he found a very familiar pair of boots and spurs.

"What is it?" Toyoll asked as Hanzo panicked, dropping the curtain and jumping to his feet. "Can I eat it?"

"No, you cannot eat it!" Hanzo whispered aggressively, breathing becoming labored. "It's Coyote! How could he have found me? Oh, what are we going to do?" He screeched at a miniscule volume, scratching at his own cheeks.

"Let him in?" Toyoll stated like it was obvious.

"B-but..."

"If he already knows your secret identity, you have nothing to hide," Toyoll interrupted. Hanzo sighed and rested his cheek in his palm.

"I thought I was doing a good job..." He tentatively stalked back over to the curtains and hoisted them aside. He stuck his head out into the cool night air as Coyote turned to face him. "What are you doing out here?"

"H-Hanzo!" Coyote stammered, leaning back into the railing. "This is your place?" Realization struck as Hanzo sized up the surprise in Coyote's eyes.

"How do you know my name?" He stepped back dramatically, feigning innocence as he glanced back into his room and gestured Toyoll into his pajama pants pocket.

"Ah, I..." Coyote twisted his brows as he thought. Hanzo narrowed his eyes. "It's... It's not important, okay?" He brushed the question off. Hanzo pursed his lips but did not interrogate him any further.

"Do you want to come in?" he asked instead, batting his lashes - as uncomfortable as it made him, he knew he would be better off acting starstruck than anything else. Coyote caught on and seemed to find his cool again, stepping over the threshold and scooping Hanzo's hand into his own.

"Thank you for your hospitality," the gunslinger grinned, and Hanzo resisted rolling his eyes as he leaned in to peck a soft kiss onto his wrist. Coyote began to trail his eyes up the intricate dragon tattoo sprawling its way across Hanzo's skin, and he stole his arm back.

"It's no problem, Coyote _-san_ ," he wanted to giggle at the way the dog bit his lip and groaned softly in his throat as he turned up the charm, forgetting all about the tattoo, but that would break his cover. Maybe he wasn't great at acting, but watching Coyote react was rewarding enough to try. "So, what _are_ you doing here?"

"Who says I'm not just here to see you, princess?" Coyote laughed, and it was Hanzo's turn to blush. "I'm surprised you haven't noticed, but there's a knight in not-so-shining armor outside, and I've got a feeling he has a taste for flame-broiled dog." He gestured to his burnt tail.

"So you're hiding?" Hanzo snickered. "You have to wait for Dragonfly to save you?"

"Ain't no shame in waitin'," Coyote defended. "This is a two-man job."

"I doubt he'll find you if you're cooped up in here," Hanzo teased, giving him a soft shove towards the door.

"Yeah, yeah," Coyote let himself be walked out, "Maybe I'll come back later? You know, after I kick this guy's ass."

"I'd love nothing more," Hanzo let the honey drip from his words, clasping his hands together in the crook of his neck and praying that Coyote had forgotten about him by the end of the coming battle. He grinned before disappearing to the neighbor's balcony, climbing back upwards. When he was sure that Coyote was out of earshot, he opened his pocket to let Toyoll take a breath of fresh air.

"Such a flirt, isn't he?" Toyoll clicked his long, serpentine tongue, spiralling around Hanzo's tattoo to sit upon his shoulder. "Well, you know what to do."

"Transform me!" Hanzo demanded quietly, letting the cool feeling, rather like rolling up in fresh sheets, he thought, melt over his skin until he was Dragonfly yet again - the transformation felt less of an oddity with every passing use. He followed Coyote out of the sliding door, making sure to close it behind him so as not to arouse suspicion.

Flinging himself upon the roof, he found Coyote crouched at the edge, breaking line of sight with their foe. Shingles shuffled beneath his metal toes, and Coyote looked up to shush him, pointing over the edge with his thumb. Dragonfly peered out into the street, observing the quiet, hypnotically still army and their huge leader, the knight. His flaming torch was like the sun, looking directly at it for more than a moment gave him a headache and he saw stars - it was a wonder he, and the rest of the city, for that matter, had not been woken by that alone - not to mention the sound of his footsteps and armor.

"You sure showed up fast, darlin'. Any plans?" Coyote whispered as far beneath his breath as was humanly possible, but it wasn't quite enough.

"Two of you, now!" the knight bellowed, laughing heartily. "I welcome your challenge!"

"Now that is just unfair," Coyote rolled his eyes as Dragonfly covered his ears in the shock of the German's huge voice. "Speaking of fair!" He addressed the villain himself that time, standing to his full height. "Let's say you release all these innocent people down there, and we can have ourselves a real match!"

"Release my soldiers, you say?" the old man raised his empty hand to his chin in mock thought. "I'm afraid not, my boy! You should have considered fairness before challenging an army!" With a wicked grin, the man raised his torch high above his head, slamming it down into the ground just in front of their perch.

The building crumbled and the rubble went up in flames, almost instantly. Tremors rocked the ground. Dragonfly ducked and rolled onto the next roof, Coyote not far behind, and they both looked back in horror.

"Oh my God," Dragonfly whimpered, falling to his knees and covering his mouth with his archery glove as he felt a wave of nausea wash over his body. The knight cackled below them.

"You have yet to face such power. Am I correct, _heroes_?" he shouted, and Dragonfly could hardly move as he imagined Genji inside that building - had he been crushed by his own bedroom? Burned alive? Worse? Reality crashed into his body and knocked him to the ground. What had ever made him think he was cut out to face a supervillain - he couldn't fight a mutated soldier with a thirst for real death, real destruction. Coyote behind him didn't look all that much better, though his face was that of a boy that had seen plenty of death in his short lifetime and was displeased to see more.

"He killed them..." Dragonfly whispered, retching.

"Killed?" the villain below responded to his quiet exclamation. "Certainly not. I am not partial to wasting manpower," the heroes gasped as they saw where his statement was beginning to lead - the stones of rubble shifted, and the residents of the building crawled their way out, unscathed. Dragonfly screamed. "You two will finally learn the consequences of a real war."

Genji wandered out of the collapsed debris, cheeks smeared with black char, but his shock of lime green hair was visible from a mile away as he drunkenly joined the swelling army of civilians. His eyes were glazed like candy, as though he couldn't see a thing.

"Where's Hanzo?" he heard Coyote wonder from behind as they watched the grim procession together.

"I-I'm sure he's down there somewhere..." Dragonfly mumbled through his fingers, feeling a tad faint as his brother slouched over to follow the villain. This knight was bad news: he needed to be taken out, and quickly.

"Look out, he's doing it again!" Coyote shouted a warning, grabbing onto Dragonfly's wrist as he moved more sluggishly than usual from his scare. The torch came down, and they tumbled onto the next building over as their previous one met a similar fate to Hanzo's apartment - it went up in high flames, lapping at their toes as they rolled to safety.

"We need to get rid of him," Dragonfly coughed the dust from his lungs. Coyote nodded and brought out his revolver, mimicking the quick shooting he had used to take out the Gopher's army. Dragonfly gestured to himself and the ground - he was to be the distraction, while Coyote stunned the villain from above. The gunslinger grinned and nodded again as Dragonfly drew his thin sword and surfed down the roof shingles, landing in front of the huge man with it ready in front of him. The old man's eyes lit up and he mimicked the position with his metal torch.

"Do you challenge me, young man?" the booming voice bounced between the faces of the buildings, hitting Dragonfly four times over.

"I do!" he cried back in reply.

"A brave one you are! You shall have an honorable position in my army!" Dragonfly shuddered at the prospect. The German raised his sconce, ready to slam it down upon the hero's tiny body, but Coyote's voice, amplified until it almost matched that of the villain's, interrupted.

"Draw!" He fired from his silver revolver.

A sudden wash of glowing blue overtook the night sky, bright enough that it felt like day.

When Dragonfly opened his eyes after the blinding flash, he found a massive energy shield blotting out the sky, projected from the knight's gauntlet. The look on his aged face was sour.

"You are clever, I will give you that," he spit as he retracted the shield and again raised his weapon. "But you must play fairly to beat the Crusader." With that, he slammed the sconce into the road before him, cracking the asphalt, rippling damage out in front of him. Dragonfly barely managed to jump into the air in time to avoid the brunt of the damage, but he still fell flat on his back. He looks upwards to find a stunned Coyote, glaring holes into his revolver - his power had been denied entirely.

Before the Crusader could rile up for another hit, Dragonfly climbed the face of Coyote's building, praying silently that the knight would not hit again until he could regain his bearings as he scampered straight upwards like a terrified lizard. Just as he reached the top, he felt the solid ground collapse beneath him. Something grabbed onto his wrist, yanking him up into the air with enough momentum for him to make a dive for the next safe rooftop. He skidded to a stop, back on his feet in an instant to search for his savior - Coyote dangled precariously from a colorful planter box on the side of the high rise. They both jumped out of their skins as a wicked laugh from Crusader echoed through their sensitive ears.

Dragonfly tucked and rolled onto the ground, ducking under the attack this time. Coyote let go of the box and toppled to the ground as well; Dragonfly grabbed a hold of the scruff of his jacket as he stood, disoriented.

"We need to get out of here!" Dragonfly growled, sprinting for the end of the block, making to round the corner.

"You will never escape from me!" Crusader shouted, lowering his stance as what seemed to be a combustion engine lit up in his suit of armor, propelling him forward until he crashed headfirst into the adjacent block of buildings; they came down around his head, but he stood, unfazed.

Dragonfly and Coyote kept running, not daring to look behind them as they rounded the city block. Crusader came charging past yet again, and Dragonfly took a deep breath, tossing both of their bodies limply between two brick high-rises, hardly stopping for a half second before digging his nails into the grit of one building, climbing for both of their lives.

"Come out and fight!" the knight taunted, and the heroes laid as still as they could atop the roof, panting hard. "I'll burn this whole city if I must!" Dragonfly groaned, wiping a sheen of sweat from his scaled forehead.

"That guy is bad news..." he whispered, and Coyote nodded, sitting up as they heard the Crusader's footsteps taper off into the distance. A beep interrupted their relative silence, and Coyote looked down at his belt buckle to watch the last of four carved teeth vanish from the gold plate, leaving only a drooling tongue. "Y-you're going to change back!" Dragonfly's eyes widened and he hopped to his feet. "You need to get out of here!"

"I can't leave you alone with _that_!" Coyote jerked his thumb in the direction the knight had run off to.

"I'll be fine, go!" Dragonfly insisted, hair on his skin bristling as he heard another beep resonate between them. He whipped around, covering his peripheral vision with his hands. "Go, Coyote!"

* * *

Jesse sighed to Dragonfly's back, watching his anxious tail sway along the ground.

"Thanks, darlin'," he whispered as he turned to the fire door leading back down to the ground floor. Once inside the dimly lit hallway, Wenndi made its presence known from inside his jacket pocket, popping its head out into the air with its pink tongue lolling from black lips.

"Hurry and get us some food so we can get back out there!"

"Sure thing," Jesse took the stairs two at a time, running his hands down the walls to keep from tripping until he finally reached the ground, only to stop in his tracks. The asphalt of the street was mangled, a ditch drug through the middle where Crusader had charged in, pipes and hydrants leaked water that attacked his boots the moment he set foot outside. High rises and shops alike lay in rubble, scattered across the city like ashes in the wind. He could hear the slow-moving army of hypnotized civilians somewhere near; it had truly become a warzone. He looked up to the roof of the apartments he'd just escaped, but Dragonfly was nowhere to be found.

"Let's go!" Wenndi reminded him from his pocket, and Jesse snapped out of his trance, running in the opposite direction of the damage gradient.

Most storefronts were too broken and burnt for the gunslinger to even recognize whether they had once served food or not. The streets were empty, and the undamaged buildings seemed to live on peacefully, completely unaware of the chaos outside. Perhaps that was the Crusader's game - the only ones he woke joined his army, and Coyote and Dragonfly were left cut off from any possible assistance. Seemed silly, though, when he thought of the mass destruction the knight could cause with one swing of his torch.

Finally, Jesse came upon a promising sight: a small crop of food trucks, still strung up with twinkling fairy lights to attract hungry bar patrons. As he approached, however, he found most of the carts empty, abandoned by their owners. He sighed.

"What'cha in the mood for, Wenndi?" He asked as he eyed a taco cart with the doors left hanging open.

"No! You are not going to loot a food cart!" Wenndi huffed, exasperated.

"Ain't got much of a choice," Jesse shrugged, heading closer to the orange van. "It's miles back to the apartment, and every other place in town is smashed up somethin' nasty."

"Some hero you are," Wenndi gave its reluctant consent as Jesse hopped inside the van.

"I can't believe you don't trust me," Jesse rolled his eyes, fishing his wallet from his back pocket and dropping a few bucks onto the counter.

* * *

Dragonfly heard the telltale sound of rushing air, and a sniff gave away his partner's position.

"You smell like tacos," he turned up his nose in distaste as Coyote landed on the chimney next to him.

"Yeah? You like things a little spicy, darlin'?" Coyote snickered as a heated blush overtook the cool dragon's cheeks. "Took a while to find you."

"I've been trying to avoid Crusader, but I tracked his migration. He's moved outwards, towards the desert," Dragonfly flicked a strand of hair from his eyes, tucking it behind his pointed ear.

"Any plans yet?"

"Well..." Dragonfly pursed his lips. "It's risky, but I think the only course of action is to approach him from up close and use his own strength against him - like the first one, remember?"

"He seems like he might be a bit too smart for that," Coyote hung his head. "But that's the best we got, huh?"

"I suppose." Dragonfly worried his bottom lip between his teeth, standing from his crouched position to search the horizon for the ever-moving path of destruction the villain had left in his wake. "You provide cover fire, and I'll-"

"Wait, hold up," Coyote knitted his brows and crossed his arms over his chest. "How come you're the one riskin' your life to get up close?" Dragonfly scowled like he had eaten something sour.

"That was what we did last time, wasn't it?"

"I'd wager a guess that Crusader is a heck of a lot more dangerous than that goo monster ever was," Coyote shuddered at the memory of the toppled buildings, burning homes and braindead citizens. "You need to be around to clean up afterwards!" Dragonfly grunted in realization.

"You think I'll be hypnotized into his army?"

"I ain't doubtin' yer skills none, sugar, but we can't risk that," Coyote avoided his gaze. "Better if I do it so the city still has a chance if it don't work."

"I suppose... That makes sense," Dragonfly conceded, tucking his arms behind his back and watching his own feet. "It's a last resort, okay? If it does come to that, though... Thank you."

"It's the gentlemanly thing to do," Coyote chuckled, though Dragonfly couldn't bring himself to scold the cowboy for his insolence - Coyote knew the very real consequences as well as he did. "Whatever we do, though, we gotta get to it. City's gettin' wrecked worse and worse by the minute." Dragonfly nodded in agreement, and they leapt together in the direction of the outskirts of town.

As they drew nearer and nearer to the source of the mess, the violence and damage became more pronounced. Entire blocks of sidewalk ripped from the ground and scattered in concrete chunks, hydrants pumping floods into the holes where roads, shops, and homes had once stood. They spotted Crusader in the difference, tearing a pickup truck bed from cab with his hands, and draw their revolver and bow respectively. Dragonfly closed one eye, taking a single, calculated step forward as he drew back the string of his bow and let an arrow fly. It struck Crusader in the back of his helmet, though it didn't do them much good as he turned around to face his little distractions, plucking the shaft from his head without so much as a wince as he approached.

"I see you have returned, so-called heroes," he sneered, swinging his torch up to rest upon his shoulder. "Have you come to admit defeat and join me?"

"Not a chance!" Coyote shouted back, clenching his fist tight around the handle of his gun.

"A shame," Crusader sighed, tossing his torch back into his swinging hand and flinging a fireball at them. The duo split apart as it hurtled towards them, dodging to either side of the scorching shot. Another followed in rapid succession and the two hit the deck, but Coyote yelped as the second projectile burnt his new tail.

"We can't keep this up forever, Dragonfly!" Coyote hissed, and Dragonfly grimaced in agreement. Just before he could give the order to move onto their last resort plan, a disembodied chuckle halted his words in his throat.

"You two look to be having some trouble," the voice was feminine, a Spanish accent gracing the smooth English.

"Who said that?" Dragonfly searched the roof but found no traces of anyone atop it but them. They received another warm laugh in return.

"You just have to ask for help," she chided them from thin air. "Go on, ask." Distracted, a well-aimed fireball caught Coyote off guard. It singed the sleeve of his coat, igniting fibers, and he yelped in surprise, slapping at the tiny flames with his metal hand.

"Jeez, help us! Please!" Dragonfly brought Coyote closer, eyeing the air suspiciously as he tended to the burn on his arm.

"Good boy," One of Coyote's ears was tamped down and he whined in surprise at the invisible touch.

As Dragonfly helped Coyote back to his feet, both of their attentions were caught by a purple glimmer atop Crusader's armored shoulder. It took a vaguely human shape, that of a young woman, as it slid down his arm, dragging long nails over his gauntlet and leaving it sparking with purple. The glimmer disappeared as quickly as it had appeared, but Crusader was too distracted to care. He shook his purple arm like a ragdoll, as though it had fallen asleep.

"What have you done to my shield?" he demanded, eyeing the heroes atop the building. Dragonfly narrowed his eyes, staring at the busted shield generator.

"Coyote, now's your chance!" he gasped, shoving the overheated dog towards the edge of the roof, where he had better line of sight. "The shield is down!" Dragonfly pulled back the string of his bow as he slid to the ground, landing shots in the Crusader's armor and helmet as Coyote charged up to take him down. The knight growled and dove after Dragonfly with his weapon, slamming it into the already-destroyed road and rumbling the ground. Scampering along the ground as fast as he could manage while shooting, Dragonfly prayed that he was too small to hit, biding time for his partner.

"Draw!" came Coyote's voice again, but this time no flash of light as he was blocked. The shot from his six-shooter echoed as loud as the Crusader's bellow as it cracked into his helm, shattering the iron into a million pieces that crumbled like dust over his white hair and beard. Forced to his knee, the knight was frozen in place as the rest of his armor underwent a similar disassembly, rust soaking into the metal like water into a sponge, cracking into plates, then crumbs that tumbled down to the ground as sand. Dragonfly drew back an arrow and aimed straight at the frozen behemoth before him, letting loose and shouting.

"Ryu ga waga teki wo kurau!" Coyote jumped down next to him as the twin dragons hatched from the arrow, blowing a gust of cool air over them as they barreled towards Crusader, swallowing his body like a snake eating its prey whole; when they had finished, an old man remained on his knee. Dragonfly choked at the sheer size of him, even now that he was human. He stood near seven feet tall, he wagered a guess, rippling with muscle - the monster had not been so much of an exaggeration as he had thought. One eye blinked open on the man's face, the other scarred shut.

As the dragons washed over the absolutely wrecked town, they restored buildings to their full heights, whisked cars upright and drank up the water that flooded the streets. Finally, they dove for the swarming mass of civilians, confused with their leader defeated until the spirits freed their loyalty to him. Chatter picked up volume exponentially as the people wondered what had transpired, and the old man that had once been Crusader echoed their query.

"What happened?" he groaned, pressing a hand to his face as if to soothe a headache. "Why am I out here in the middle of the night?"

"You were under the mind control of an evil being," Dragonfly barked professionally, returning his bow to its place on his back. "But you should be fine now."

"Ah," the man grunted, declining to question further. The dragon offered a hand to help the man up, but he waved it off and stood on his own without too much trouble. He looked down to the ground, an immense hurt in his eyes as he began to walk towards the huge crowd, slowly migrating back into their homes.

"Sir?" Coyote interrupted his pity march, and he turned around. "I gotta say... You still kinda look like you'd make a pretty good knight," he chuckled, scratching at his own neck.

"Thank you, young man," he grunted, something like a laugh, and a small smile lit up his furry face. Dragonfly and Coyote watched him walk off together for a moment before their Miraculous gave simultaneous beeps. Coyote scooted closer to his partner as they both turned to walk off in the opposite direction of the crowd.

"We got pretty lucky, huh? Who'dya think that girl was?" Dragonfly huffed a sigh through his nose and crossed his arms as they walked.

"I don't know, but I don't like her," he replied sourly. Coyote made a sound of protest, but Dragonfly cut him off before he could make his argument. "We don't know anything about her, her motivations, powers, anything! How can I trust that?" Coyote fell silent as they rounded the block and ducked into an alley. "We can't always be _lucky_ , you know, and I don't like taking handouts."

"Guess you've got a point there," the dog sighed and tucked his hands into his pockets. "See you around?" Their Miraculous gave another set of beeps, and Coyote waved goodbye, leaving Dragonfly to detransform in the relative private of the abandoned alley. At least it was too late for his partner to return to his window.

Once he was redressed in his plain pajamas, Hanzo hurried to join the crowds in the street as they shuffled back into their homes. He found Genji as he neared the front door to their high rise, catching onto his wrist and dragging him close for an impromptu hug amidst the mob. The battle had taken his mind off of it, but seeing his brother with that dead look in his eyes, face smeared with soot and rubble had shaken him something awful. A reminder that Genji was alive, well, and kicking was well deserved, though he kicked a tad more than Hanzo remembered.

"So, now you care about me?" Genji scoffed, shoving Hanzo a few feet away. "It takes getting crushed in a building and being hypnotized for a supervillain for you to want me?" the younger rolled his eyes and returned to the doors, leaving Hanzo stock-still on the threshold. He blinked in surprise, but let his brother go, tucking his hands together and looking down to the ground, rocking on his toes and hoping that no one had noticed Genji's outburst. He was just tired, surely, effects of the hypnosis wearing off - his cheery brother would be back by morning, and for now, he would leave him be.

* * *

Tucked into his desk at school for only the second time the next morning, Hanzo could barely keep his eyes open. Brawling the Crusader deep into the night and thoughts of Genji had kept him awake for far longer than what he normally considered healthy, but missing what was functionally still his first day of school was not an option. Realizing that the attacks from monsters were not going to let up anytime soon, the district had opted to open the schools back up despite the danger - Coyote and Dragonfly would fight to keep the students safe, their email stated. A rush of pride had filled Hanzo's chest when he read it, but also a sinking feeling of dread; it was an awful lot of responsibility for two boys.

As Hanzo opened his mouth wide for a yawn when no one was looking his way, the classroom door opened. In walked none other than Jesse McCree, the delinquent he'd seen enough of for a lifetime within a half-week. Maybe he had the wrong room, he was just checking with the teacher - Hanzo begged, but no such luck. He scowled as the cowboy noticed him, flashing a smile full of slightly yellow teeth and a quick wave as he moved closer. Hanzo remembered the empty seat to his right and swallowed hard - his bad luck truly knew no ends.

"Howdy," Jesse's wide smile was still plastered to his cheeks as he tossed his bag to the ground unceremoniously and threw himself into Hanzo's neighboring seat. He didn't grace him with a response, and the smile fell slightly, but he seemed undeterred. "You know, I think we got off on the wrong foot."

"What makes you say that?" Hanzo huffed, laying his cheek into his palm and glancing to the boy with his best disinterested look. He didn't disagree, but he also couldn't think of any right foot for them to have got off on - Jesse was nosy and loud, exactly his brother's type. Good looking, sure, but the casual flirting was too much for Hanzo to put up with, rather like a certain dog he knew.

"I know I've been kinda, _forward_ with you," Jesse continued, ignoring the sarcastic quip. "An' I guess I probably made you pretty uncomfortable, right?" At least he could recognize his own errors, Hanzo thought.

"I jus' wanna apologize. Never meant to upset you," the cowboy continued, and Hanzo couldn't help but give a small smile when he searched for a reaction. Perhaps Jesse was more of a respectable young man than he had previously assumed. "And I was hopin' that we could be friends?" He offered a hand up and Hanzo laid his delicately atop, where it was treated to a firm squeeze and shake. A sharp breath was forced into his lungs as the sheer warmth of Jesse's hand enveloped his own, and before he could do a thing about it, the boy's other arm stretched around his shoulders and pulled him into a tight hug. Hanzo's eyes fluttered as he felt Jesse's arm flex around his own, and he let out a tiny gasp of disappointment when his new 'friend' pulled away with a satisfied grin.

 _Oh, no._

* * *

 **hope everyone's still enjoying this story, we're starting to pull into a major arc. as always, leave a review if you enjoy and follow me on tumblr (burst-bomb-bitch) for updates and art!**


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